Views sought on licensing fees

Members of the public, community groups and businesses are being asked for their views on a proposed fee structure for a variety of civic licences issued by Aberdeenshire Council.

The council is the licensing authority for a wide range of civic licences, including those for taxi and private hire car vehicles and drivers, and those for public events.

There is a legal requirement for the council to make sure that the fees charged cover the cost of running the licensing service – but at the moment the council is facing losses.

The licensing service is not permitted to make an overall profit so, following a review, a new pricing structure has been prepared that aims to better reflect the work involved in processing an application.

Licensing Sub-Committee chairperson Councillor Richard Cowling said: “Many licences are relatively straight forward to process but detailed applications, such as those for large public events, involve a great deal of work and consultation with different partners.

“There has been no increase to the fees for many years and, in some cases, the cost of processing a licence is now more than four times as much as the fee charged.

“The proposed fees are closely based on the actual cost for processing each type of licence but there may be some flexibility around the proposed increases. With that in mind, it’s important we gather the views of as many people as possible before the proposals are considered.”

The proposed structure can be found at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/shirelicensing where views can be shared until Monday, January 23.

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